What kind of tape to use for putting together abrasive belt

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now

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Dec 27, 2017
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Hi!

What kind of tape should I use for putting together an abrasive belt from an abrasive roll? Is there some filament tape that’s recommended? I tried to reverse engineer what kind of tape 3m uses, but I can’t figure it out.
 
I think patching belts is a bad idea, unless you wanna get smacked in the face by a spinning belt. I had couple of factory belts snap and it's not fun at all.

More experienced makers might correct me.
 
I wouldn't either. I got slaped by a broken belt a long lime ago, and it is no laughing matter.
 
I was told by a friend that he recently ran across splicing tape as he searched for belts, so one of the supply houses has it. He can't remember which one right now as it wasn't what he was searching for at the time.
Sorry I can't help more, but it is not a useless quest you are on.
 
I still have a piece of green 36 grit abrasive in my arm from the last time I tried that!!!!
It was 40 years ago and I have never even thought about trying it again!!!
Bill Johnson
 
When I asked about this years ago they said:
1) The adhesive is kept at -100°F and was good for a day a room temp
2) The process used a splicing/alignment machine that applied heat and pressure.
3) That I couldn't do it at home.

That was what I have always accepted as true. I still think it is basically true.

However, there are several abrasive belt splicing tapes and kits on the market - Metabo is one and Sheldahl is another.
From what I have read Sheldahl is the best. It needs 3000PSI pressure and has to be shipped on dry-ice and stored at -30°F or lower. It is good for 90 days max.
I don't know about the temps or pressure for Metabo tape, but it says 30 day warranty unopened.

What I do know from people who have tried home splicing is that duct tape and carpet tape won't work.
 
Thank you, all, for these great answers. I wouldn’t have thought that it was this difficult to patch a belt, thus I really appreciate the extended answer regarding the specifics. I guess those videos of people showing “how to do it yourself” on YouTube should probably be taken down, then :-).
 
I consider YouTube to be about the most unreliable source for good information. Good info is there, but so is a lot of bad info. In all my years here on Bladeforums and in my long time as a maker I have never met a person who successfully mended a belt for a knifemaking grinder.

However, I am a big fan of actual testing. Splice a few belts together using what you saw on YouTube and test them out on your grinder. Post the results here, with photos and maybe a video of the grinder running at full speed.
 
You can splice belts together, I have seen it done for small grinders and sanders.

BUT! those machines are no where near the force put on a belt on a 2x72 belt. My machine has a 60lb spring on it and would blow out those home made splices at the speed ran and the force I grind with.

Look at it this way we are not running go garts here, we are running dragsters and what works on a go cart will get blown apart by a dragster.
 
I have tried a number of different methods to repair belts that were old but unused with various success. Some failed very quickly while others failed after a fair amount of use. I suspect that heat was a big factor in the failure of even the ones that lasted longer so perhaps you may be able to get use out of a repair belt if you are doing so with a technique that produces less heat and friction.

Nothing was scientific and I didn't keep notes but as best I recall the adhesive had to be relatively flexible. I believe I tried contact cement and it wasn't very good at all. I know that I tried gorilla glue and I believe it actually held up pretty well, failing eventually but got some mileage out of the belt. Flexibility and heat resistance I think are essential.

I tried re-using the tape from the original belt and it worked for a little while. I also tried using 1" wide ribbon like for a birthday present as well as some type of sewing fabric/tape/ribbon and they seemed to work relatively well. Problem was anything very thick would mean a bump in the belt every revolution. Still useable and decent in the slack belt areas. The birthday ribbon surprised me the most, thin and quite strong and cheap. Plus unlike the 1" long strips on the factory belts, you could have 8" long strips if you want, that way you get that much more strength and coverage.

Mileage may vary depending on belt type, grit, speeds, etc. Others have said they wouldn't try it so that is up to you however I have broken quite a few belts while grinding (1x42 belt) and though it can startle me good it never seemed to cause any safety problems. My belts just went slack and never kept spinning or reach out and slapped me. Maybe depends on the machine type?
 
eyeeatingfish said:
I have tried a number of different methods to repair belts that were old but unused with various success. Some failed very quickly while others failed after a fair amount of use. I suspect that heat was a big factor in the failure of even the ones that lasted longer so perhaps you may be able to get use out of a repair belt if you are doing so with a technique that produces less heat and friction.

Nothing was scientific and I didn't keep notes but as best I recall the adhesive had to be relatively flexible. I believe I tried contact cement and it wasn't very good at all. I know that I tried gorilla glue and I believe it actually held up pretty well, failing eventually but got some mileage out of the belt. Flexibility and heat resistance I think are essential.

I tried re-using the tape from the original belt and it worked for a little while. I also tried using 1" wide ribbon like for a birthday present as well as some type of sewing fabric/tape/ribbon and they seemed to work relatively well. Problem was anything very thick would mean a bump in the belt every revolution. Still useable and decent in the slack belt areas. The birthday ribbon surprised me the most, thin and quite strong and cheap. Plus unlike the 1" long strips on the factory belts, you could have 8" long strips if you want, that way you get that much more strength and coverage.

Mileage may vary depending on belt type, grit, speeds, etc. Others have said they wouldn't try it so that is up to you however I have broken quite a few belts while grinding (1x42 belt) and though it can startle me good it never seemed to cause any safety problems. My belts just went slack and never kept spinning or reach out and slapped me. Maybe depends on the machine type?
Click to expand...
I believe that this guy knows what he's doing ................
Tape ..................

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seems a bit more complicated than it's worth?
User manual: First, you need the sanding belt hot press machine, and the professional glue for sanding belt; Second, apply glue to the tape and leave it for about one minute (wait for the glue to evaporate); Third, grinding to remove the surface coating of the cloth base at the joint of the abrasive belt, and leave it for about one minute after applying the glue (wait for the glue to evaporate)； Attach the tape to the abrasive belt interface, and smooth it. Then Put the joint on the hot press machine and heat press. After heat press, leave it for 2 hours (wait for the glue to solidify completely) .
 
When I start thinking about the extra time, effort and mess that it would take to "possibly" splice a belt together that's "probably" going to blow apart at the worst possible moment, the "pre-spliced" belts from reputable manufacturers start looking pretty cheap.

Personally, I'd save the rolls for polishing, or you can glue strips of them on a long piece of granite or glass and use them as a poor man's surface grinder for flattening stock.
 
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